Vending means



C. FAZEKAS VENDING MEANS May 21, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec.- 5,1958 INVENTOR CHARLES FAZEKAS W M M. JAM

ATTORNEYS May 21, 1963 Filed Dec. 5, 1958 C. FAZEKAS VENDING MEANS ll"HI -AA A A 4 A 4 Iv v IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2.

INVENTOR CHARLES FAZEKAS BYMA/MM Mm ATTORNEYS United States Patent3,690,521 VENDING MEANS Charles Fazekas, Charlotte, N.C., assignor toPneumafil Corporation, Charlotte, N.C., a corporation of Delaware FiledDec. 5, 1958, Ser. No. 778,491 1 Claim. (Cl. 221-6) This inventionrelates to automatic vending, more particularly to vending means fordischarging a single item from a plurality of such items, as selectivelydesired by the user.

Contemporary merchandising techniques have resulted in the developmentof a variety of merchandise vending apparatus which serves to minimizethe handling required in the sale of merchandise, and the personnelneeded. As with any machinery, so with vending apparatus, costs ofproduction and maintenance are reduced in direct proportion to thereduction of the components of the equipment, and particularly thereduction of the number of moving parts. Generally, vending isaccomplished in conventional apparatus by moving a single item from astorage place for a plurality of such items to a discharge point. Therelative positions of the storage point, and the discharge point willdetermine what mechanisms are required to effect transfer of the vendeditem. As here used, the term item will .be taken to designate one ormore articles so that reference to a vended item does not necessarilyrefer to a single article. Clearly, it is desired to be able to minimizeor eliminate the transfer mechanism between the storage facility and thedischarge point. Additionally, it is desirable to simplify thecomponents necessary to effect delivery and discharge of said vendeditem and to effect this delivery with a minimum of motive effort. Otherproblems arise in connection with the replenishment of the vended itemsin the apparatus, and the maintenance of a constant supply of items for.vending. Additionally, it is necessary to insure that vending of an itemoccurs only upon actuation of the vendmechanism in proper fashion.Tilting of the vending apparatus, or tampering therewith, should noteffect item delivery.

It is with the above desiderata in mind that the present means have beenevolved, means implementing the rapid and efficient delivery anddischarge of a vended item from a plurality of said items with a minimumof motive effort and with no possibility of effecting item delivery bytilting, said means having a minimal number of components, and movingcomponents, requiring minimal maintenance and permitting readyreplenishment of the vended item.

It is accordingly 2. primary object of this invention to provideimproved and simple vending means.

Another object of the invention is to provide vending means having aminimal number of moving components.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a novel vendingapparatus in which no transfer apparatus is required for moving thevended items from a storage point to a predischarge position.

An additional object of the invention is to provide vending equipmenthaving maximum effective storage volume for the items to be vended.

It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved vendingapparatus in which replenishment of the vended items is readilyaccomplished.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a I novel methodfor the vending of items.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a simple andefficient vending apparatus requiring relatively low power drives toeffect operation of the apparatus.

3,090,521 Patented May 21, 1963 ice vending apparatus for selectivelydelivering a single item from a plurality of such items. The vendingapparatus comprises a removable, replaceable, and interchangeableplurality of multicompartment storage chutes within which the items tobe vended are tiered. Arranged beneath said storage chutes are vendmechanisms, one for each multicompartment chute. The weight of the itemsin the storage chutes tends to move the items into the vend mechanism.Positioned in said vend mechanism is a switch permitting flow of itemsfrom only one of the compartments of said chute at a time to apredischarge platform formed at the bottom of the vend mechanism wherethe item is retained prior to discharge and delivery. A solenoidactuated delivery carriage is pivoted to move over said platform toeffect delivery of an item to a discharge chute beneath said platformand an antitilt bracket is secured to the carriage to prevent movementthereof by mere tilting of the vending apparatus.

A primary feature of the invention resides in the provision of a novelvend mechanism having a simple pivotally mounted delivery carriagesolenoid actuated to effect d livery of a vended item, by a simplearcuate motion, serving to laterally displace the item requiring minimumpower.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a novelreplaceable and interchangeable multicompartment storage chute withinwhich the items to be vended are tiered, whereby only one of thecompartments of said chute is actively employed as a source of vendeditems at a time, with the other compartments serving .for storagepurposes.

Another important feature of the invention resides in the provision of anovel spring biased anti-tilt bracket coupled to the delivery carriagewhereby the delivery carriage cannot be actuated without the solenoid,by mere tilting of the vending apparatus,

The specific details of a preferred embodiment of the herein disclosedinventive concept, and their mode of functioning will be made mostmanifest and particularly pointed out in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a novel vending machine with its frontfacadeidoor swun'g open to reveal some of the components of the novelvending apparatus; and

FIG. 2 is a schematic elevational cross section through the vendingapparatus of FIG. 1 showing the novel storage chute and vend mechanism;and

ing 11 having a facade door 12 secured to said casing I 11 by means ofvertically extending hinge 13 permitting said facade door 12 to be swungto the open position illustrated in FIG. 1.

Within casing 11 the vending apparatus 15 may be seen. In theillustrated embodiment the vending appa- 'ratus 15' has been shown ascomprising several multicompartment chutes-17,-and-several vendmechanisms 18, one for each chute.

Each multicompartment chute 17 in the disclosed embodiment comprises twocompartments 19 formed of sheet metal orthe like and joined by spotwelding into -a unit-chute 17 as best seen in FIG. 4. Eachcompartment-19 isformed with an upper lifting tab 20 and a lower liftingtab 21 so as to permit handling and removal of the'cornpartrnent. AU-shaped loading pin'22 is provided a-leg of which isadapted'forinsertion into pin apertures 23 and 24 formed in' the front and rearwall, =respectively, of each compartment at'a bottom part there of. Afront seat flange 2S, and rear seat flange 26 is I formed, respectively,on the front and rear walls of each compartment 19 above loading pinapertures 23 and 24. "Engaging and aligning lip 27 on the bottom ofcompartments'19 permits telescoping of the lower part of compartments19'Wlih the upper part ofvend'mecham'sm 18. The front walls of thecompartments are spaced from the rear walls-of the compartments by adistance sufiicient to accommodate the item s vended. Diiferent sizeditems may be handled by the same chute. In order to permit securepositioning of the chute 17 within casing 11, spacer bracket 28 isformedon the rear wall of the compartments 19, and stop 29 is arranged on thefront door 12-as viewed in FIG. 1. Additionally'guide channels arearranged at the top of the cabinet for aid in orienting the chutes. r

The vend mechanism 18, as best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, is also formed ofa relatively rigid sheet material such as sheet steel or the like. Eachvend mechanism 18 is of a width to accommodate at least two-chutecompartments 19. An orienting guide chamber 30 is formed within vendmechanism 18-and permits the controlled passage therethrough of thevended items. Above the guide chamber30-isa deflector lip 31 and aswitch 32.

Switch 32 is supported on-pivot shaft 33 and has stop lip I 34 formedonthe end of the switch 32 adjacent its pivot. The switch 32 is. mountedso that the weight of the switch-will normally tend to bias the switchinto .alignment on a line between compartments 19. Inthe illustratedembodiment where each vend mechanism accommodates a storage chute havingtwo compartments .19, the switch 32 is centrally positioned in the vendmechamsm.

'As;best seen in FIG. 3, delivery carriage 35 having side walls 36 and37 respectively ispivoted on pivot bar 3.8. to move over item receivingpredischarge platform 40. Therear wall of the carriage is formed of achannel member the lower part of which forms an ejector 45,

- and the upper arm of whichformsan item stop 46 Whose function may beperformed by the channel back in the eventof large can diameter. Thefront wall of carriage .35serves.as,an'itemguide-47 whenthe carriage ismoved to. delivery position.

Beneath platform 40, discharge chute 50 is arranged to receive anitem-displaced from platform 40 by carriage 35.

Anti-tilt bracketSShaving an L-shape is slideably 'secured as best seenin FIG. 3 with one leg of the bracket hooked over the front item guidewall 47 of carriage 35. A spring-56 has one end thereof secured to theoutwardly extending leg of bracket 55, and the other end secured to'afixed detent 57 at apoint beneath bracket 55 whereby the bracket, andthecarriage will be downwardly biased as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 3. 7

1A depletion detector 60 comprising a microswitch 61 Y and. asswitch arm62 of flexible spring material is positionedon one:wall of orientingguide chamber 30, with arm;,62cextending into thechamber. to contact thelow- -;ermos't.of theitems passing therethrough.

Solenoid 65 having armature 66 is arranged onthe exteriorof vendmechanism 18. Bracket 67 on the carriage -iscoupled to link68.:extending from armature 66. .A

limit switch arranged in the solenoid circuit deactivates the solenoidafter a can has been vended untilthe carriage returns to a normalpre-vend position.

Operation The aforedisclosed structure has been illustrated in FIG. 1 inconnection with sci-called cold can vending machine wherein the itemsvended are containers of chilled potables such as soft drinks or likebeverages. It will be understood, of'course, that a variety of otheritems could be vended by employing similar methods and ,apparatus withinthe scope of this invention.

Where the instantly disclosed cold can vending machine is employed, thecasing 11 and its facade 12 are provided with heat insulation, and anappropriate refrigeration system is arranged within the casing toprovide temperatures of desired level.

The novel vending apparatus 15, including storage chute 17 and vendmechanism 18, are positioned within this casing. Depending on thequantity of items which it is desired to vend without requiringreplenishment, and on the variety of such items, either as to flavor orsize, the number of vending mechanisms and storage chutes is determined.In the instantly disclosed structure, four vend mechanisms, along withfour storage chutes, each having two compartments, are employed. It willbe understood, of course, that the vend mechanisms may accommodatestorage chutes having either one or more compartments.

At the outset, each of the compartments is removed from the vendingmachine, by manually gripping the lifting tabs 20 and 21 respectively,elevating the compart .partments '19, the legs serving to block the flowof items through said compartment. Thereafter the compartmentsare'filled with cans and the chute 17 is repositioned in combinationwith the vend mechanism 18. Loading pin 22'is removed and the canspermitted to move by gravity therethrou'gh.

With both compartments filled, the cans in the righthand compartment asviewed in FIG. 2 will move downwardly causing switch 32 to assume avertical orientation with stop lip 34 extending into the path of thecans in lefthand compartment l9 preventing the flow of cans therefrom.Thus, left'hand compartment 19 functions as a static storage compartmentwhile the righthand com partment is active.

The items, in this case, cans, move downwardly from the activecompartment of the storage chute '17 into orienting guide chamber 30 ofthe vend mechanism 18. In the guide chamber '30 they bear againstdepletion detector switch arm 62 to open the circuit containing switch61.

The lowermost can rests on predischarge platform 40 until solenoid 65 isactuated, whereupon link 68 is drawn by solenoid armature 66 to causecarriage 35 to pivot about pivot bar 38 to the dotted line position seenin FIG. 2. Ejector 45 on carriage 35 forces the lowermost can onplatform 40 laterally into discharge chute 50. Simultaneously item stop46 serves to retain the next to the lowermost can'Wi-thin the orientingchamber 30. With cylindrically shaped cans the lateral motion produces arolling action requiring minimal force.

When the righthand compartment 19 as viewed in FIG. 2, has its contentsexhausted along with the cans therebeneath in the vend mechanism, theswitch 32 moves to the righthand position as viewed in FIG. 2, aboutpivot --33 under the action of the lowermost can on stop lip 34.

by spring 56 with a force suflicient to prevent motion of carriage 35under its own weight, is provided.

Upon the delivery and discharge of all of the cans, flexible switch arm62 of the depletion detector 60 springs upwardly closing switch 61 tocomplete the circuit therethrough which is usually coupled to somesignal indicating that the particular storage chute of the vendingmachine is empty. Thereafter the compartments are again removed and thesupply of cans replenished.

It is thus seen that a novel vending apparatus comprising a storagechute and vend mechanism have been provided for use in selectivelydelivering a single item from a plurality of such items. The novelapparatus permits replenishment or replacement of the vended itemswithout interfering with the vend mechanism by employing a plurality ofstorage compartments in the storage chute, at least one of saidcompartments providing static storage. Delivery and discharge of theitem is accomplished by a simple delivery carriage requiring a minimalforce to laterally displace the vended item to discharge position.Additionally, the novel apparatus permits a variety of difterent sizeditems to be handled by the vend mechanism, and delivery cannot beefiected by tilting. I

The above disclosure has been given by way of illustration andelucidation, and not by way of limitation, and it is desired to protectall embodiments of the herein disclosed inventive concept within thescope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

Vending apparatus for selectively delivering a single item from aplurality of such items, said apparatus comprising: a multicompartmentstorage chute within which the items to be vended are tiered; analigning engaging lip at the lower edge of said chute; :a vend mechanismaligned and engaged with said chute by said lip; a switch pivoted at anupper part of and within said vend mechanism, said switch tending toextend on a line between said compartments forming an extension thereofwithin said vend mechanism; a stop lip on said switch extending into oneof the compartments in said storage chute when said switch is alignedwith said partition wall; an orienting chamber beneath said switch insaid vend mechanism permitting only the contents of one of saidcompartments to pass; a depletion detector in said chamber indicatingthe presence or absence of an item; a delivery carriage pivoted in saidvend mechanism; an item stop on said carriage; an item guide at thefront of said carriage; an item receiving predischarge platform beneathsaid carriage receiving a single item and retaining same prior todischarge by pivotal movement of said carriage; a bracket secured tosaid carriage; a spring secured to said bracket and biasing same withsaid carriage to a non-delivery position; a discharge chute receiving anitem delivered by said carriage from said platform; and carriage movingmeans permitting selective movement of said carriage, whereby uponmovement of said carriage an item which has previously been stored insaid storage chute will be discharged from said delivery chute.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS593,132 Spiro Nov. 2, 1897 769,063 Dougherty et a1 Aug. 30, 19041,639,295 Jesnig Aug. 16, 1927 1,867,496 Cable July 12, 1932 1,902,599Vernet Mar. 21, 1933 1,981,272 Kuhn et a1 Nov. 20, 1934 2,083,463 MayJune 8, 1937 2,256,976 Ford Sept. 23, 1941 2,399,105 Donaldson Apr. 23,1946 2,665,184 Hord Jan. 5, 1954 2,765,101 Shanhouse et a1. Oct. 2, 19562,889,074 Reynolds June 2, 1-959 FOREIGN PATENTS 9 9,007 Sweden May 28,1940 333,997 Great Britain Aug. 28, 1930 647,589 Germany July 8, 1937788,093 Great Britain Dec. 23, 1957

